Concussions cause FSU commit Richy Klepal to end football career

About two weeks ago, when the four-star Florida State commit was playing in the season-opening game for Tampa's Plant High School against area rival Jesuit, the offensive lineman experienced an all too familiar, far too common pain in his head.

He had experienced his fifth concussion.

"When I got that concussion, because I had so many, I had an MRI," the senior lineman said.

The MRI revealed a hemorrage. If he has any kind of head trauma again, no matter how mild or severe, he was told he could die.

That made the decision he arrived at Thursday afternoon an easy one.

"There wasn't really a choice or a decision," he told ESPN.com late Thursday night. "My doctor was telling me, unless I want to take a risk of dying, it would be in my best interest [to quit football]. I love football more than anything, but my mental health is a little more important."

Klepal informed FSU coaches of his decision earlier in the day. When he did, he received pleasant, unexpected news from Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher.

According to Klepal, Fisher and his staff have decided to honor his scholarship. If he still wants to enroll at FSU, he will be more than welcome to taking advantage of the scholarship, he said Fisher told him.

It was still unclear Friday morning just how the logistics of his scholarship would work, and how it may or may not count against the Seminoles' scholarship count next year. An FSU compliance official told the Orlando Sentinel the university hoped to have a more firm answer to those concerns by Friday afternoon.

Klepal told ESPN.com that he expected to meet with FSU coaches in Tallahassee on Monday to go over the logistics of how his scholarship would work. He also said he was unsure whether or not he would still visit Tallahassee this weekend when the No. 4 Seminoles host No. 10 Clemson at 8 p.m. Saturday.

As it now stands, the Seminoles have 17 commitments to their 2013 recruiting class. Last year, they signed 19. Klepal was one of four offensive line commits to the class. Although he played tackle at Plant, Klepal likely would have been a guard at FSU. He committed to the Seminoles on July 17.

Klepal said he was glad he found out the news about his concussions when he did.

"Because who knows?" he said. "[Finding out] could have just been a matter of matter of me being on the field."

Klepal considered the news about his mental health a "wake-up call."

"I love football more than anything," he said, "but not more than living."